How pride month came into existence?

'Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start' - Josons Collins.

The initial 'LGBTQ' and its modification

LGBT or GLBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Initially coined as LGB, activists believed that the term 'gay' community did not accurately represent all those referred to, hence striving for more addition to it. Successfully the term today is extended to LGBTQI. 

The extension of the initial LGB in 1988 was made with 'T' and was intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures. A popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual identity. Since 1996 it was recorded as LGBTQ. Another addition was made of the letter 'I' to add intersex people to the LGBTQ group. Furthermore, LGBT+ is used to encompass spectrums of sexuality and gender. 

Homophobia and the emergence of the gay revolution

The earliest evidence of gay relationships is from ancient Greeks, although mostly about older and younger men. People had their closets being them.  'Homophobia' started back in Churches during the middle age and in the Renaissance. This led to a group of brave people revolt against such growing discrimination. On August 31, a group of young aristocrats living in Florence staged the first gay rights demonstration. Despite that, homophobia spread to Colonial America. In 1776 being gay was not allowed. In the 20th-century gay bars were popping up in major cities but were often raided by the police because it was still illegal in many states. One of these bars was the popular Stonewall Inn in New York. On the morning of 28 June 1969, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn decided to make a mass revolution. 

The Stonewall uprising

The Stonewall uprising/ Stonewall rebellion/ Stonewall riot was a series of violent demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began early morning. 

Pride parades since then are celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riot. Craig Rodwell eventually proposed this on November 2, 1969, to be held in New York. Gilbert Barker, in 1978, who was an American artist and gay rights activist, designed the rainbow flag as a pride symbol. In the LGBT version, each color has a different meaning; Red- life, Orange- healing, Yellow- sun, Green- nature. 

A black transgender woman named Marsha P Johnson is credited for uprising the modern gay rights movement and putting 'T' in LGBT. Now every November 'T' class and their supporters recognize transgender awareness week.

In the early '80s, the world was hit by the AIDS epidemic, and the gay community was hit the worse. AIDS became to be known as a gay disease. It was originally called 'GRID' which means gay-related immune deficiency. It was believed that the government didn't act quickly because it was considered a gay disease. This brought the gay rights movement into force, and the entire community fought against it. Activists groups like ACTUP, the gay man's health crisis, lesbian AIDS project came out. They had one major goal that is to 'COME OUT.' They thought the problem with homophobia is that they didn't have much knowledge about LGBTQ. In 1997 popular celebrity Ellen appeared in a cover magazine and announced to be gay. 

Being gay was accepted. Still, a lot of rights were not equalized. Hence they decided to do 'Allies.' In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize the issue. Twelve years later, it was legal in all its states. 

The community in its contemporary stage and conclusion.

Today LGBT community and their lifestyle have been accepted in almost all parts of the world. They are given equal status and respect in the work environment too. Yet, there are places in the world that have not accepted the community as normal to date. To get rid of homophobia, social media platform and education about sexual orientation in elementary and higher education levels have been found an effective way to spread factual awareness about the community. Research has shown that LGBTQ people worries about the negative response to their sexual orientation or gender identity. This causes chronically high levels of stress known as 'Minority stress,' which is essentially experienced by stigmatized groups. An article was given by Nicola K Gale and  Nicki Ward, University of Birmingham, who reported that in the UK, there had been great legal strides towards equality. However, culturally they are still playing catch up, and higher education is one of the places where LGBTQ people are being hated. Having said that, few positive instances can be seen happening in recent times for the upliftment and empowerment of the LGBT community. In India, the Madras High Court had suggested changes in school and university syllabus for LGBTQ education of students. Yet a lot more to go and lots more to achieve until the world from every corner accepts and welcomes the entire fraternity wholeheartedly. 

"We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity"- George Takei.